Coleanthus

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Coleanthus
Coleanthus subtilis Thome Mod.jpg
Coleanthus subtilis [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Pooideae
Supertribe: Poodae
Tribe: Poeae
Subtribe: Coleanthinae
Genus: Coleanthus
Seidl [2] [3]
Species:
C. subtilis
Binomial name
Coleanthus subtilis
Synonyms [4]
  • SchmidtiaTratt. 1816, rejected homonym not Moench 1802 (Asteraceae) nor Steud. ex J.A. Schmidt 1852 (Poaceae)
  • WilibaldaSternb. ex Roth
  • Schmidtia subtilisTratt.
  • Zizania subtilis(Tratt.) Raspail
  • Wilibalda subtilis(Tratt.) Roth
  • Schmidtia utriculataJ.Presl & C.Presl
  • Schmidtia utriculosaSternb.

Coleanthus is a genus of Eurasian and North American plants in the grass family. The only known species is Coleanthus subtilis. It has a scattered distribution, found on lakeshores, streambanks, and other wet places in central Europe (France, Germany, Czech Rep; extinct in Norway and Italy), Asia (Western Siberia, Khabarovsk, eastern China), and northwestern North America (Oregon, Washington, British Columbia). [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

Description

Coleanthus subtilis is a small-growing, clump-forming annual grass that often grows on the ground. The culms are thin, prostrate, or ascending, have two to three nodes, and a little groove. They grow to a length of 30 to 80 mm. The leaf sheaths are glabrous and closed in the lower half, especially the uppermost leaf sheath, which is strongly inflated. The ligules form a membranous fringe and scale between 0.5 to 0.8 mm. The glabrous leaf blades measure 10 to 20 mm in length and 1 to 2 mm in width. They are weakly grooved, folded, and often shaped like a sickle. [10]

Spikelets Coleanthus subtilis Thome Ahrchen Mod.jpg
Spikelets

A panicle can vary in size from 10 to 30 mm. It is composed of several more or less dense groups of spikes arranged in tufts. The spikelets are uniflorous and grow 0.8 to 1.2 mm long. They stay on the panicle even after the ripening stage. The glumes are missing. The tender-skinned lemmas are single-nerved and grow 0.8 to 1.2 mm in length. The remaining nerves are hairless, except for the median nerve, which is short and protruding hairy. They have an oval lower portion, an extended top portion, and a narrowly rounded or awn-pointed at the upper end. The two-nerved, glabrous, and tender-skinned bracteoles reach 0.4 to 0.6 mm long. They have wide, depressed sides and are four-pointed at the top. The two nerves each run out in a short tip. It develops into a pair of stamens. The filaments are attached to the base of the anthers, which have a length of approximately 0.3 mm. The stigmas of the ovaries are filiform and protrude from the flowers at the upper end. The fruits lengthen from 0.6 to 0.8 mm. They are wrinkly, stick out between the top and the front husk, and fall off without external action. [12]

Coleanthus subtilis typically blossoms from June through September, with very few occurrences in early May or late November. It is diploid, with a chromosome number of 2n = 14. [13]

Distribution

The distribution area of Coleanthus subtilis extends over several small, highly disjunct sub-areas:

Coleanthus subtilis is listed in Annex II and IV of the Habitats Directive and is thus classified as a priority species. Due to its endangered status, it is given particular protection in Germany under the Federal Species Protection Ordinance. [20]

Ecology and sociology

Coleanthus subtilis is a therophyte with a six to seven-week life cycle. [21] Generally, it grows in short-lived, patchy dwarf rush colonies that occupy 60–80% of the available space. [22] It occurs in widely scattered locations, often in the mud of drained ponds, stream and river banks, and old-water margins. The plant is extremely rare and unstable. It vanishes as soon as the ground floods again. Under ideal conditions, it possesses a lifespan of two to four years. [12] According to earlier research, the seeds can survive in flooded soil for up to 20 years without losing their ability to germinate. [13]

It is spread by rivers at relatively short distances (hydrochory) and by waterfowl and swamp birds (zoochory). As a result, seed dissemination by wild ducks can account for the significantly disparate distributions in Bohemian Massif, Saint Petersburg, and Siberia. [23]

In the Cypero-Limoselletum from the Nanocyperion association, Coleanthus subtilis is the most prevalent. [24]

Systematics, name, and botanical history

Coleanthus subtilis was discovered in 1811 by brothers Jan Svatopluk and Karl Bořiwog Presl near Osek in the Pilsen district and it was first named in 1816 by Leopold Trattinnick under the name (basionym) Schmidtia subtilis. [25] The plant was classified to the genus Coleanthus by Wenzel Benno Seidl in 1817 (in Roemer & Schultes: Systema vegetabilium). [26] [20]

The Greek words koleós, which means sword sheath, and ánthos, which means flower or blossom, are combined to form the name Coleanthus. [27] The species epithet subtilis (Latin for fine, thin, delicate) refers to the thread-thin stems. The genus name translates directly to the German name Scheidenblütgras. The less precise translation of the species name, "sheath grass," emphasizes one of its most distinctive characteristics: expanded leaf sheaths. [28]

In the genus Coleanthus,Coleanthus subtilis is the sole species. [29] The genus belongs to the Poeae tribus in the Pooideae subfamily. [20] Due to its significant distinctions from other grasses (lack of glumes, erectile tissue, two stamens, and elongated style), some authors place them in their own tribe Coleantheae. [30] Mistakenly, the genus Coleanthus is often assigned six other species that were actually counted in the genus Coleosanthus of the daisy family. These species are now classified as belonging to the genus Brickellia. [18]

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References

  1. Illustration from Otto Wilhelm Thomé: Flora von Deutschland Österreich und der Schweiz. Gera-Untermhaus, 1885
  2. Seidl, Wenzel Benno. 1817. Systema Vegetabilium 2: 11-12, 276 in Latin
  3. Tropicos, Coleanthus Seidl
  4. 1 2 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  5. Flora of China Vol. 22 Page 340 莎禾 suo he Coleanthus subtilis (Trattinnick) Seidel in Roemer & Schultes, Syst. Veg. 2: 276. 1817.
  6. Grassbase - The World Online Grass Flora
  7. Kharkevich, S.S., Probatova, N.S. & Novikov, V.S. (1985). Sosudistye rasteniia sovetskogo Dal’nego Vostoka 1: 1-383. Izd-vo "Nauka," Leningradskoe otd-nie, Leningrad
  8. Malyschev, L.I. & Peschkova, G.A. (eds.) (2001). Flora of Siberia 2: 1-362. Scientific Publishers, Inc., Enfield, Plymouth
  9. Biota of North America Program 2013 county distribution map
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  11. Illustration from Otto Wilhelm Thomé: Flora of Germany Austria and Switzerland. Gera-Untermhaus, 1885.
  12. 1 2 Hans Joachim Conert (2000). Pareys Gräserbuch. Die Gräser Deutschlands erkennen und bestimmen. Parey, Berlin 2000. Parey. p. 186. ISBN   3-8263-3327-6.
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  14. 1 2 Manfred A. Fischer; Karl Oswald; Wolfgang Adler (2008). Exkursionsflora für Österreich, Liechtenstein und Südtirol. 3. verbesserte Auflage. Land Oberösterreich, Biologiezentrum der Oberösterreichischen Landesmuseen, Linz 2008. ISBN   978-3-85474-187-9.
  15. Jerzy Fabiszewski; Jan Cebrat (2003). "Coleanthus subtilis (Tratt.) Seidel [sic!] – a new species to the Polish vascular flora. In: Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae. Band 72, Nr. 2, 2003". Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae. 72 (2): 135–138. doi:10.5586/asbp.2003.018.
  16. Birgit Fleischer. Coleanthus subtilis (Tratt.) Seidl – ein Neufund für die Oberlausitz. In: Sächsische Floristische Mitteilungen. Band 7, 2002. pp. 14–19.
  17. 1 2 3 Siegfried Woike. Beitrag zum Vorkommen von Coleanthus subtilis (Tratt.) Seidl (Feines Scheidenblütgras) in Europa: Folia Geobotanica et Phytotaxonomica. Band 4, Nr. 4, 1969. pp. 401–413.
  18. 1 2 Paul M. Catling. Coleanthus subtilis (Poaceae), New to Northwest Territories, and its Status in North America: Rhodora. Band 111, Nr. 945, 2009. pp. 109–119.
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  24. Erich Oberdorfer (2001). Pflanzensoziologische Exkursionsflora für Deutschland und angrenzende Gebiete. Unter Mitarbeit von Angelika Schwabe und Theo Müller. 8. stark überarbeitete und ergänzte Auflage. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2001. p. 259. ISBN   3-8001-3131-5.
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